THE KENNEL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2849, 21 October 1908, Page 35

THE KENNEL.

By Tcssob.

Fsncicri and breeder* of dogs are cordially in-T-ted to contribute to this column. " Terror " trill endeavour to make this department as interesting [ and ijp-to-doic as possible, but in order to d& this lie .moit h»re the co-operttion of his readers, becce he trust* this invitation -will be cheerfully rstponded to. —In cas-es of skin disease the focd of the dog should be varied. The farinaceous portion of his diet should be reduced, and the raw -meat portion increased; also add a greater proportion of vegetables to the made meals consisting of bread soaked in broths, etc. — A well-attested remedy for mango is : Oil of tar 36z, sulphur sub. loz, sulphur • nig. loz, antrim nig. loz, train oil 2Coz. ' —In reply to " M.", I find that Rawdon 8.. Lee quotes the Rev. D. Dobbie, lion, secretary of the Skye Terrier Club, of Scotland, as saying: — "In judging Skye j terriers, I "ahould puc lowne=s and length \ first ; head, chest, and shoulder*, second ; coat, third ; level back, fourth ; all orher i points being inferior and subordinate." He j continues, "Most *of the eld judges decide by length of coat alone — a. most deceptive and injurious etandaid, — the ccat concealing faults and becoming softer the., longer .it is, and encouraging untypical j breedings — five and a-halff inches of coat is ample." —Mr Thos. Marpies says: — "The curly-, coated retriever is a variety whiok requires .great attention to its coat, which is the leading feature of ihe dog. What ie required is a ehort, crisp-curled coat. To . produce this shaving is resorted to, sometimes* to remedy the neglect of naturally good-coated dogs, said in others as a temporary remedy for open-coated dogs. In the latter _ caeo the docs ai-9 shown when their ccat is about half gown and afc its best, w> far as curl goes, for in all • cases the longer thi? ooafe grows the more open it becomes in. curl, which openness of curl heavily handicaps them in I the show ring, of courie. The bsct" coated retrieveie can oa!y bo exhibited during six i or seven months out cf the 12, owing to j the coat, which is, of course, of vital im- | portance in the show ring. What would be injurious to a flat-coated dog in connection with washing and drying would, in the case of a curly-coattKl retriever, be ad-vantag-eoiio-r but care should be, taken in allowing the doj to practically dry himself ; not to let him catch cold. The comb is rarely requhed in the curly-coated retriever, the brush being- all that is necessary, except tho .removal by the finger and thumb of superfluous hairs. It is a good tiling to frequently press the curls down with the hand. Sometimes, in a generally goocicoat_d dog, the coat in places is rather open. In such cases, f.vinois ha\« been known to resort to thr* <.inlir..;j tongs to remedy Hie defeat. This again is, of course, ill egitimate, as th 3 clipping of hair to a line on the forehead, wirro the curls ahould finish, -and the; short, smooth hair begin. A^ittlo trimming fce.ro is permissible in order -to improve the definition of an • otherwise gcod<oai<:d dog, 'but the admission of clippers in th<s case of retrievers is'' letting in the. thin odjje of the wedye- of "faking-,** oud emphasising the difficulty which already exists in connection 'with the preparation for show of many breeds — of clearly determining where, legitimate trirfwning ends, and where '" fajwng" I begins. - — Many dogs when Buffering: from distemper have a disposition mere or less pronounced to roughness of the skin, and in many ca-sea absolutely to eczema. Tbo cczematoua eruption which so often appears during distemper is ) ; a.b!e to be mistaken for mang>e, because it usually appears as an eruption of small pustules filled with watsry fluid, which <.Lt-charg<_6, and makes the animal's coat very unpleasant. It maj also bo said at tho out-set that, th© appearance of an eruption during distemper should always be regarded with satisfaction, inasmuch as that is, practically speaking-, Nature's way of thiov.ing off tho ill | humours with which the body is charged. Tha efforts of the owner of a dog which is suffering in this way should be directed rathor at modifying the se\erity of the f-kin trouble, and of giving the do.j comfort whilst that lasts, than checking- it. It is a dangerous thing lo try to drive hack, as it were, an outbreaking complaint into tlio system. It is far better to let. it run its course, subject to a local alleviative treatment, as already mentioned. There is, of couree, the danger that the dog may be reduced to a weak, exhausted condition, but provision can ba mado against such a tendency by giviug stimulants, and there is, on. the whole, no cause, as we have already said, for much anxiety. Dogs which have distemper without ekin complaint are much more liable to chorea or paralysis than those which have skin complaint badly. This dread disease, chorea, is due^ — if_we may put the matter rather unscientifically — to what may be called a suppressed form of distemper, and that is really why ekin eruption may be looked upon with complacency. Yexy often the eruption of the skin has the effect of preventing the more insidious malady whicn goes on internally, and does not show itself until its mischievous work hae to «U

intents and purposes been accomplished. Cases in which dogs have skin complaint with distemper are mostly those cases in which the distemper affects tha liver. Dogs have peculiarly sensitive livers, and it is no common thing for distemper to be ushered in by an atack of jaundice. When th>© liyer becomes congested, the blood at ence begins to accumulate impurities, and an outbreak of skin disease is the natural result — the safety valve, so to ppgak. Bicod medicine, therefore is desirable to assist in driving the disease out of the system, and an external lotion will be required ds well. The be=t blood medicine for dogsis iron in some form — ©accharated cax-bon-ate of iron is a .good thing, and can be obtained made up into powders or in gelatine capsules. Tho difference between saeeharatsd carbonate is ' that what is usually 6old as carbonate of iron is oxide of iron — the r-ed powder commonly sold under the name of carbonate — sines carbonate' of iron as soon as it is made begins -to oxidise, and will not keep, but when made in the saccharated form — that is to Gay, in combination with svgar — it will keep, and, moreover, for come reason which wo cannot very well explain, it is more readily assimilable into the system, and thus has a more pronounced effect than the scrcalled carbonate, which is really oxide, and rather insoluble. The syspiomo of liver complaint occurring with distemper aro usually distinguishable bj reason of the yellowish appearance of the lips and eyas, and in bad cases of th^ skin. Jaundice is a great plague in many foxhound kennels, being- brought on- amongst older doge usually by exposure in cold, bad weather. There- is no doubt aleo that many dogs suffer fom liver complaint by reason of excessive physicking. Some kennelmen physic their dogs until they really make them unhealthy. Th-e best cures for liver complaint are outdoor exorcise, plain light food, and not too much of it. and small doses of sulphate of ecdsu or sulphate of magnesia, car any other saline aperient, or in Eome oases of vegetablo hepatics like podophyllin (which suits come dogs very well, but others it does not suit at all), and rhubarb and oolocynth. A good general pill for dog 6 can be made up irr' the following way. — Take of powdsred rhubarb one draohni, powdered ginger ore drachm, compound extract of colocynth in powder one drachm, extract of gentian six d.rachms. or sufficient to form with the other "ingredients a suitable pill mass, which can then be divided into 10-gram pills, one of which will be a sufficient do?e for a dog of 301b weigh*, more or less being given in proportion to largo or smaller doge, as the case may be. A pill liko this needs only to bo administered once every day or two. and is best given Ifalf an hour before food.